Gutter support

ABSTRACT

A support for an eaves trough including a mounting bracket attachable to a building and a member attachable to the eaves trough; the member being releasably supported by the bracket for vertical pivotal movement from a lower assembling position to an upper position wherein the eaves trough is disposed in its normal operative position relative to the building. The member is automatically locked in its upper position when moved thereinto.

United States Patent Inventor Robert D. Landb 98 Emerald lh'lve, W. Seneca, N.Y. 14224 Appl. No. 25,433

Filed Apr. 3, 1970 Patented Dec. 28, 1 971 GUTTER SUPPORT 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl. E04d 13/06 Fleld of Search 248/482,

[56] v References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,007,662 l0/ 1 961 Featheringham 248/482 3 ,066,902 12/ l 962 Conil 248/223 3,274,450 9/1966 Siebold 248/223 X 3,333,803 7/ 1967 Landis 248/482 Primary ExaminerChancellor E. Harris AttorneyBean & Bean ABSTRACT: A support for an eaves trough including a mounting bracket attachable to a building and a member at-' tachable to the eaves trough; the member being releasably supported by the bracket for vertical pivotal movement from a lower assembling position to an upper position wherein the eaves trough is disposed in its normal operative position relative to the building. The member is automatically locked in its upper position when moved thereinto.

Patented Dec. 28, 1971 3,630,473

INVEN'I OR.

ROBERT D. LANDIS A 7' TORNLYS GUTTER SUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Supporting devices or fixtures of diverse constructions have heretofore been employed to mount eaves troughs or gutters on a building in position to collect and carry away roof water. For the most part, prior devices have been characterized by constructions which are costly to produce, require time consuming installation procedures and/or do not readily permit eaves troughs to be cleaned or replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved eaves trough support, which overcomes the disadvantages inherent in caves trough supports heretofore in use.

The caves trough support of the present invention is of two part sheet metal or like construction, including a mounting bracket, which is to be fixed to the side of a building, and a member, which is to be fixed to the eaves trough and in turn removably supported on the mounting bracket, such as to permit vertically pivotal movement of the member from a lower assembling and/or eaves trough-cleaning position into an upper locked position wherein the eaves trough is arranged to normally receive roof water.

In accordance with the present invention, the member is provided with a depending portion, which is supportably engaged by a forwardly extending flange of the mounting bracket and keyed thereto for controlled pivotal movement by a foot portion freely passing through a recess arranged adjacent the rear of the support flange. The lower or terminating end of the foot portion, which extends below the support flange, is engageable with the side of the building or other suitable abutment for the purpose of defining the lower position into which the member may be swung. The extend of downward swinging movement of the member is increased over that otherwise attainable by arranging the foot portion such that it is inclined with respect to the side of the building, when the member is in its upper position.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mounting bracket and member are provided with upper locking flanges contoured to define a recess projection snap-fitting locking arrangement, which permits the member to be automatically locked in place when pivoted into its upper position.

While in southern climates, the snap-fitting locking arrangement would be sufficient to retain the eaves trough in its normal position, it is desirable to provide a more positive locking arrangement for climates where the eaves trough would be subjected to heavy loadings, such as under ice or snow conditions. To this end, the locking flanges of the mounting bracket and member are provided with apertures adapted when aligned to receive a locking pin therethrough. When providing this additional locking feature, it is preferable to arrange the apertures such that they are automatically placed in alignment upon snap-fitting of the locking flanges together.

The support of the present invention provides not only a low cost, rugged construction, but greatly facilitates assembly of the support and eaves trough and the mounting thereof on a building. In this respect, the members of a required number of supports would be initially fixed to the eaves trough with the desired spacing therebetween. Thereafter, the mounting brackets would be assembled with the members with their flanges snap-fitted together, so as to temporarily support the mounting brackets on the eaves trough preliminary to initial placement thereof. The eaves trough would then be elevated into the position it is to normally assume on the building, and the mounting brackets temporarily secured on the building by driving suitable fasteners through those portions thereof which project above the eaves trough or the positions of the brackets marked on the building for subsequent reference. In cases where the brackets are temporarily secured to the building, permanent securing thereof may be effected by merely pivoting the members and thus the eaves trough downwardly to expose for nailing portions of the mounting bracket disposed below its locking flange. Alternatively, the members, and thus the eaves trough would then be disassembled from the mounting brackets, so as to permit the latter to be permanently nailed or otherwise fixed to the building, and subsequently reassembled to complete installation of the eaves trough. Periodically cleaning of the eaves trough is facilitated by unlocking and moving the members to their lower position whereat the eaves trough is disposed in a'tilted condition. The members are frictionally locked relative to the mounting bracket when the former members are pivoted into their lower position, thereby freeing the hands of a workman to clean or perform other maintenance on the eaves trough. Also, the eaves trough may be completely removed from the building when desired or necessary for replacementpurposes.

DRAWINGS Other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a support of the present invention, showing it attached to a building and carrying a conventional eaves trough;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the member of the support to which the eaves trough is attached.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting bracket of the support, and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing an alternative embodiment of the present support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. I, it will be understood that the support of the present invention, which is generally designated as 10, is adapted to mount an eaves trough 11 on an upstanding or vertically extending sidewall 12 of a building in position to receive water falling from a roof, not shown. Of course, support 10 may be mounted on the building in any suitable manner other than that shown, such as by being suspended from or otherwise carried by the roof of the building, as is well known.

Now referring particularly to FIGS. 1-3, it will be seen that in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support 10 includes a mounting bracket 15 to be mounted permanently on building sidewall 12, and an attachment member 16 to be permanently attached to the eaves trough ll. Mounting bracket 15 and attachment member 16 are constructed and arranged in a novel manner to permit the attachment member to be removably mounted in place on the bracket, and thus assembly of the support and mounting of the eaves trough on the building, as will be fully hereinafter described.

Mounting bracket 15 is preferably in the form of a single strip, which is formed so as to define a flat vertically extending back flange l7 engageable with building sidewall 12, a forwardly extending upper or locking flange l8 and a forwardly extending lower or support flange 19. It will be understood that bracket 15 may be fabricated from any suitable material, such as metal or plastic, which preferably possesses some degree of resiliency for the reason to become apparent. Mounting bracket 15 may be affixed to sidewall 12 by suitable fasteners such as nails 21 received within upper and lower bracket openings 22 and 23, respectively.

Now referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, attachment member 16 is preferably in the form of a single strip of a suitable material, such as metal or plastic, which is formed soas to define an elongated flat strut portion 25; which extends transversely across the top of eaves trough II; a locking flange portion 27; and depending flange portion 29. The forwardly extending end of strut portion 25 terminates in an upstanding flange 31, which is suitably attached, as by rivets 32, to the inside of caves trough front wall 33. The rear wall 34 of the eaves trough is suitably attached to depending flange portion 29, as by rivets 36.

In accordance with the present invention, an arrangement is provided for assembling attachment member 16 on mounting bracket for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which eaves trough I1 is disposed in its normal operative position relative to the roof of the building, as indicated in FIG. 1. To this end, depending flange portion 29 is formed with a depending foot portion 38 bounded by shoulders 40, and support flange 19 is provided with an opening 42 adapted to freely receive foot portion 38. To assemble support 1, foot portion 38 is inserted downwardly through opening 42, so as to position shoulders 40 in supporting engagement with the upper surface of support flange 19. Preferably, opening 42 is arranged immediately adjacent the rearmost edge of support flange 19, so as to permit the back and support flanges to cooperate in guiding the foot portion into the opening.

Attachment member 16 is frictionally locked or supported in its lowermost position, shown in phantom line in FIG. 1, by engagement of shoulders 40 with the upper surface of support flange I9 and engagement of the lower or free end 44 of foot portion 38 with an abutment, such as. building sidewall 12 or a downwardly directed extension of back flange 17, not shown. It is preferable to provide for substantial pivotal movement of attachment member 16, so as to permit substantial tilting of caves trough 11, which facilitates the cleaning and/or maintenance thereof by a workman standing on a ladder, not shown, which is in turn rested against sidewall 12 or the edge of the building roof. To this end, foot portion 38 is inclined relative to depending flange portion 29, so as to position foot free end 44 relatively outwardly of opening 42 when attachment member 16 is in its upper position. By this arrangement, a substantially greater pivotal movement of member 16 may be effected before engagement of foot free end 44 with its motion limiting abutment.

A particularly important feature of the present invention is the provision of an arrangement for automatically locking attachment member 16 in its upper position as it is moved thereinto. In accordance with the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, locking is effected by contouring locking flange l8 and locking flange portion 27, so as to define recess 46 and projection 48, and by forming at least one of locking flange l8 and flange portion 27 of the material having sufficient resiliency to permit snap-fitting of projection 48 into recess 46 when member 16 is pivoted upwardly to position locking flange portion 27 in an underlying relationship relative to locking flange 18.

Under relatively light loading conditions, as may be encountered in southern climates, the above described snap-fitting locking arrangement will be sufficient to maintain member 16 in its upper position, while permitting it to be manually pivoted therefrom when it is desired to perform maintenance on and/or removal of eaves trough 11. For colder climates, where the eaves trough may be subjected to high loadings due to snow or ice conditions, it is preferable to additionally provide a positive locking arrangement in the form of a headed locking pin 50 loosely receivably within apertures 52 and 54 of locking flange l8 and locking flange portion 27, respectively. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, apertures 51, 54 are positionally related to recess 46 and projection 48, such that they are automatically positioned in alignment for receipt of locking pin 50 when member 16 is moved into its upper position.

Mounting of eaves trough 11 on sidewall 12 of the building is effected by first afiixing a plurality of members 16 to eaves trough 11, the number of members 16 being determined by the loadings to which eaves trough 11 will be exposed during use. Thereafter, mounting brackets 15 would be assembled on members 16 with their locking flanges l8 and 27 snap-fitted together, so as to temporarily support the mounting brackets on the eaves trough. The eaves trough would then be elevated into the position it is to normally assume on the building and sufficient number of nails or other fasteners 21 driven through upper bracket openings 22 for the purpose of temporarily supporting the brackets and thus the eaves trough. The brackets normal position relative to the building roof.

Alternatively, after the mounting brackets have been temporarily affixed to the building in the manner described above, the eaves trough can be fully removed and again installed after permanently affixing the brackets in place, or when the eaves trough is initially placed in the position it is to assume against the building, the positions of the mounting brackets may be merely referenced as by a pencil and mounting brackets subsequently permanently nailed in place after disassembly from members 16.

An alternative embodiment of the above-described locking arrangement is shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, locking flange 18 is provided adjacent its forwardly extending edge with a downwardly turned operating or locking tab 60, which defines a downwardly and rearwardly extending cam surface 62 and a rearwardly facing abutment surface or edge 64 immediately adjacent the cam surface. Abutment surface 64 cooperates with the lower or under surface of locking flange l8 rearwardly thereof and rear flange 17 to define recess 64', whereas locking flange portion 27, depending flange portion 29 and locking flange portion extension 66 cooperate to define projection 48'. It will be apparent from viewing FIG. 4 that cam surface 62 is engageable by the rear of locking flange portion 27 as member 16 is moved into its upper position, so as to resiliently deform locking flange l8 and permit seating of projection 48 within recess 46'. This snap-fitting locking arrangement primarily differs from that described with reference to FIG. 1 in that engagement of abutment surface 64 with projection 48' positively prevents movement of member 16 away from its upper position until locking flange 18 is manually deformed, as by lifting up on tab 60. It will of course be understood that the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 may be further modified by forming tabs 60 separately from flange l8 and by additionally including in the locking arrangement a pin-aperture locking device of the type described above in connection with FIG. 1.

As by way of illustrating various possible modifications of the preferred embodiment of the support bracket shown in FIG. 1, reference is made to FIG; 4 for its further showing of a modified eaves trough attachment procedure, wherein eaves trough rear wall 34 is affixed to flange projection 66 of locking flange portion 27; and mounting bracket 15 is of multipart welded construction.

I claim:

1. An eaves trough support comprising in combination:

mounting means for attachment to a building;

a member for attachment to said eaves trough;

means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building, said assembling means includes a forwardly projecting support flange carried by said mounting means, said support flange having an opening therethrough, and a depending portion carried by said member, said depending portion including a foot portion bounded by at least one shoulder portion said foot portion being freely insertable within said opening to position said shoulder portion in engagement with a supporting upper surface of said support flange adjacent said opening to assemble said support, said foot portion extending through said opening and terminating in an end portion below said supporting flange at a point disposed outwardly of said opening when said member is disposed in said upper position, said end portion being engageable with an abutment defined by one of said building and mounting means to define said lower position of said member; and

means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, said locking means being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position.

2. A support according to claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes a vertically arranged rear flange attachable to said building, said support flange being substantially planer and extending at substantially right angles to said rear flange, and said opening being arranged in said support flange immediately adjacent said rear flange, whereby said rear and said support flanges cooperate to guidingly position said foot portion in said opening during assembly of said support.

3. An eaves trough support comprising in combination:

mounting means for attachment to a building;

a member for attachment to said eaves trough;

means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building; and

means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, said locking means being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position, said locking means including recess means on one of said member and mounting means and projection means on the other of said member and mounting mean, one of said recess and projection means being resiliently deformable to permit seating of said projection means in said recess means when said member is moved to said upper position, and said locking means additionally includes apertures in said mounting means and member and locking pin means receivable within' said apertures when aligned to positively lock said member in said upper position, said apertures being positionally related to said recess and projection means such that said apertures are automatically aligned by seating of said projection means in said recess means.

4. An eaves trough support comprising in combination:

mounting means for attachment to a building, said mounting means including a forwardly extending resiliently deformable locking flange;

a member for attachment to said eaves trough, said member including a locking flange portion;

means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building and said locking flange portion is disposed in an underlying relationship to said locking flange; and

means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, while being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position, said locking means including recess means defined by said locking flange and projection means defined by said locking flange portion, said locking flange including a downwardly and rearwardly extending cam surface and a rearwardly facing abutment surface adjacent said cam surface, said abutment cooperating with an under surface of said locking flange rearwardly thereof to define said recess means, said cam surface being engageable by said locking flange portion when said member is moved into said upper position to resiliently deform said locking flange to permit seating of said projection means in said recess means, said abutment surface preventing movement of said member from said upper position until said locking flange is manually deformed to withdraw said abutment surface from engagement with said projection means. 5. An eaves trough support comprising in combination:

l5 mounting means for attachment to a building, said mounting means including a vertically arranged rear flange attachable to said building, a forwardly extendin locking flange carried adacent an upper end of said rear ange and a forwardly projecting support flange carried adjacent to lower end of said rear flange, said support flange being substantially planer and extending at substantially right angles to said rear flange;

a member for attachment to said eaves trough, said member including a locking flange portion and a depending portion;

means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building and said locking flange portion is disposed in an underlying relationship to said locking flange, said assembling means including an opening disposed in said support flange and a foot portion carried on said depending portion said foot portion being bounded by at least one shoulder portion and being freely insertable within said opening to position said shoulder portion in engagement with a supporting upper surface of said support flange adjacent said opening to assemble said support, said foot portion having an end portion extending through said opening for engagement with an abutment defined by one of said building and said mounting means to define said lower position of said member, and said opening being arranged in said support flange immediately adjacent said rear flange, whereby said rear and said support flanges cooperate to guidingly position said foot portion in said opening during assembly of said support; and

means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, while being releasable to pennit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position, said locking means including recess means defined by said locking flange and projecting means defined by said locking flange portion, said locking flange being resiliently deformable to permit seating of said projecting means in said recess means when said member is moved to said upper position. 

1. An eaves trough support comprising in combination: mounting means for attachment to a building; a member for attachment to said eaves trough; means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building, said assembling means includes a forwardly projecting support flange carried by said mounting means, said support flange having an opening therethrough, and a depending portion carried by said member, said depending portion including a foot portion bounded by at least one shoulder portion said foot portion being freely insertable within said opening to position said shoulder portion in engagement with a supporting upper surface of said support flange adjacent said opening to assemble said support, said foot portion extending through said opening and terminating in an end portion below said supporting flange at a point disposed outwardly of said opening when said member is disposed in said upper position, said end portion being engageable with an abutment defined by one of said building and mounting means to define said lower position of said member; and means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, said locking means being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position.
 2. A support according to claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes a vertically arranged rear flange attachable to said building, said support flange being substantially planer and extending at substantially right angles to said rear flange, and said opening being arranged in said support flange immediately adjacent said rear flange, whereby said rear and said support flanges cooperate to guidingly position said foot portion in said opening during assembly of said support.
 3. An eaves trough support comprising in combination: mounting means for attachment to a building; a member for attachment to said eaves trough; means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building; and means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, said locking means being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position, said locking means including recess means on one of said member and mounting means and projection means on the other of said member and mounting means, one of said recess and projection means being resiliently deformable to permit seating of said projection means in said recess means when said member is moved to said upper position, and said locking means additionally includes apertures in said mounting means and member and locking pin means receivable within said apertures when aligned to positively lock said member in said upper position, said apertures being positionally related to said recess and projection means such that said apertures are automatically aligned by seating of said projection means in said recess means.
 4. An eaves trough support comprising in combination: mounting means for attachment to a building, said mounting means including a forwardly extending resiliently deformable locking flange; a member for attachment to said eaves trough, said member including a locking flange portion; means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building and said locking flange portion is disposed in an underlying relationship to said locking flange; and means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, while being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to Said lower position, said locking means including recess means defined by said locking flange and projection means defined by said locking flange portion, said locking flange including a downwardly and rearwardly extending cam surface and a rearwardly facing abutment surface adjacent said cam surface, said abutment cooperating with an under surface of said locking flange rearwardly thereof to define said recess means, said cam surface being engageable by said locking flange portion when said member is moved into said upper position to resiliently deform said locking flange to permit seating of said projection means in said recess means, said abutment surface preventing movement of said member from said upper position until said locking flange is manually deformed to withdraw said abutment surface from engagement with said projection means.
 5. An eaves trough support comprising in combination: mounting means for attachment to a building, said mounting means including a vertically arranged rear flange attachable to said building, a forwardly extending locking flange carried adjacent an upper end of said rear flange and a forwardly projecting support flange carried adjacent a lower end of said rear flange, said support flange being substantially planer and extending at substantially right angles to said rear flange; a member for attachment to said eaves trough, said member including a locking flange portion and a depending portion; means for assembling said member on said mounting means for vertical pivotal movement relative thereto from a lower assembling position to an upper position at which said eaves trough is disposed in normal operative position relative to said building and said locking flange portion is disposed in an underlying relationship to said locking flange, said assembling means including an opening disposed in said support flange and a foot portion carried on said depending portion, said foot portion being bounded by at least one shoulder portion and being freely insertable within said opening to position said shoulder portion in engagement with a supporting upper surface of said support flange adjacent said opening to assemble said support, said foot portion having an end portion extending through said opening for engagement with an abutment defined by one of said building and said mounting means to define said lower position of said member, and said opening being arranged in said support flange immediately adjacent said rear flange, whereby said rear and said support flanges cooperate to guidingly position said foot portion in said opening during assembly of said support; and means for automatically locking said member in said upper portion when moved thereinto, while being releasable to permit movement of said member from said upper to said lower position, said locking means including recess means defined by said locking flange and projecting means defined by said locking flange portion, said locking flange being resiliently deformable to permit seating of said projecting means in said recess means when said member is moved to said upper position. 